County aims to rebuild dunes with spill money

Published 9:15 am, Tuesday, December 3, 2013

With the help of a consultant hired Monday by Commissioners Court, Jefferson County will try to capture some of the money flowing from civil and criminal fines in the Deepwater Horizon oil well blowout to rebuild its coastal dunes and marshes as protection against storm surges.

Dunes and marshes are essential to protect lives, property and waterborne commerce that moves along the Intracoastal Waterway, particularly in storm surges from tropical storms like Hurricane Ike.

Millions for the coast

A federal law called the RESTORE Act provides money from Deepwater Horizon settlements for Gulf ecosystem recovery.

At a minimum, a pot of money for Gulf Coast restoration amounts to about $800 million, of which $300 million to $350 million could be available for Texas.

Other entities, including Chambers County and various governments in Orange County, which suffered profound damage from the Hurricane Ike storm surge, could apply for the money that defendants in the Deepwater Horizon case have paid into the fund.

More money for the Gulf restoration fund could become available after a federal trial under way in New Orleans.

The Deepwater Horizon was an offshore oil drilling rig that exploded on April 20, 2010, killing 11 workers and spewing an estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf until it was capped in mid-July 2010.

Defendants in the case include BP, drilling contractor Transocean, Halliburton and others, which have already paid billions of dollars in civil and criminal fines.

Consultant on the job

Tim Richardson, a Maryland-based consultant, will earn $10,500 a month form Jefferson County; $4,000 a month from various Orange County governments; and $1,500 a month from Chambers County.

Richardson's job is to present the restoration proposals to the council supervising allocations from the fund.

Fred Jackson, administrative assistant to Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick, said coastal dunes and the salt marshes can reduce storm surge by one foot for each mile of marsh extending inland.

Without that protection, the marshes will disappear, and the coastline would move inland, threatening the Intracoastal Waterway, which is crucial in moving petroleum-laden barges and other waterborne commerce.

Richardson's experience includes helping Alaskan natives recover from the Exxon Valdez oil spill in the 1980s.

He said a restoration plan should come together in up to 90 days, and a preliminary allocation formula could be decided by late August 2014.

The federal law dedicates 80 percent of all administrative and civil penalties related to the Deepwater Horizon spill to a Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund and outlines a structure for using the funds to restore and protect the natural resources, ecosystems, fisheries, marine and wildlife habitats, beaches, coastal wetlands and economy of the Gulf Coast region.

Dividing the money

The allocations will be based on:

n 35 percent equally divided among the five States for ecological restoration, economic development, and tourism promotion;

n 30 percent plus interest managed by the Council for ecosystem restoration under the Comprehensive Plan;

n 30 percent divided among the States according to a formula to implement State expenditure plans, which require approval of the Council;